The Civilians
by Katzeman
Summary: The Cold War that's been waging ever since the end of the Third World War is hotter than ever. War is looming once again, and it's the job of three ninjas from three different Hidden Villages to make sure that their side will always have the upper hand. Even if that means sacrificing everything they've ever known to start their lives anew as undercover spies in a foreign village.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

* * *

Without even the slightest sound or movement he suddenly found himself in a dark cavern beneath a foreign village. Before him stood the man who had invited him, or at least he assumed the very obvious and strangely talkative spy had been an invitation. The fact that the man in front of him was clearly wearing his shinobi armour beneath his standard white and green kimono made him doubt whether he had made the correct assumption. Then again, in times like these he could hardly blame him for being overly cautious.

"I see my suspicions were correct after all, Hokage-dono," the man said in greeting.

Nothing in his posture showed that the Hokage's sudden appearance surprised him. In fact, nothing in his posture showed what he was thinking at all. The man seemed confident enough in his own skills to not immediately react on his sudden arrival, yet smart enough to still be ready in case the Hokage would force him to react. Something both men hoped wouldn't be necessary.

The Hokage gave the man in front of him an easy smile despite the poorly disguised accusation. "After the recent Chūnin Exams you can hardly blame me for taking certain precautions, don't you think, Kazekage-dono?" He let his own warning remain a mere implication and decided not to press the matter any further. So far it seemed that the Kazekage had contacted him in good faith, so there was no need to dig up more old graves than necessary. Not if they didn't want to start digging more new graves next to them at least.

"What happened with the daimyo was Land of Wind business," the Kazekage said, his voice flat, "I apologise that it had to happen in Konoha."

The Hokage looked the man in front of him in the eyes. Thanks to his veil and hat it was the only part of him that was visible. The other man didn't even blink, and it was the Hokage who looked away first to more carefully take in his surroundings.

It was a dark chamber. And based on the few pieces of architecture he could see in the light of the handful of torches around the room, it was clear that they were in Suna. Beneath it most likely, if the cool temperature was any indication. Catacombs perhaps, even if he didn't immediately see any urns or coffins. Not that it mattered too much at the moment, the important part was that there were no other people there. Just the two of them. It spoke of a certain level of trust that the other man had put in him.

He gave the Kazekage a nod. "Then please see it as an extra form of protection in case you are ever in need of Konoha's aid. Rest assured, I will not use the marker on you unless absolutely necessary. Like today, it seems, considering the… unorthodox nature of your message."

The Kazekage was quiet as he looked the Hokage over. Then without another word he turned around and walked further into the dark cavern, grabbing one of the torches as he passed it. "Follow me." The words were barely above a whisper but in the deadly silence of the cavern that was all he needed to make himself heard.

The foreign visitor decided to ignore his fellow Kage's rude behaviour and with a few quick strides he was right next to his host again. There was a safe but respectful distance between them as they walked further and further into the dark room. The light of the torches behind them slowly faded until the only source of light was the torch that the Kazekage was carrying with him.

As they were walking through the seemingly endless dark caverns the Hokage noticed that the pathways kept getting smaller and that they kept making the strangest turns. While they started in a simple big room, they now walked through what he could only describe as a labyrinth. It was just wide enough for the two of them to walk next to each other without it becoming too awkward due to their close proximity, but also small enough for him to brush the walls while doing so. And more importantly, to see what was on said walls.

"These symbols are ancient," the Hokage said. He stopped for a moment and carefully reached out with his right hand to trace an engraved symbol that seemed almost familiar to him. It looked like an animal but it was too dark to make out what kind of animal. The Kazekage decided to humour him and brought his torch closer so the symbols were easier to make out. It didn't help him in recognising the animal—maybe a badger?—but it did give a better view of the symbols all around it. He had seen some of these symbols before, he was sure of it. "Are those seals?" he asked, a frown on his face. "Ancient seals?"

He got no response and as he turned to look at the man behind him he saw the other Kage staring at the wall with a strange intensity. Especially at the animal-like symbol he was currently tracing with his right index and middle finger. It was an intensity that wasn't even there when he first appeared before the man, after he had used the Hiraishin to teleport himself to the Kazekage's location. And that was a move that would unnerve most other shinobi, Kage or not.

After a few seconds, Suna's leader turned away from the wall and slowly started walking again. The Hokage was quick to catch up so he wouldn't get lost in whatever maze they'd found themselves in. "We're almost there," the Kazekage said, "you'll see."

It was less than a minute and five turns later when the leader of Sunagakure stopped in front of a sudden dead end. In front of them was a wall with what seemed like a mural on it. On both ends of the wall hung an unlit torch, and as the Kazekage lit the both of them the Hokage couldn't stop his eyes from widening.

"The Ichibi," the Hokage whispered as he took a half step backwards in both shock and amazement. There was no doubt about it. The mural was in such a good state that if the Kazekage had told him he painted last week, the Hokage would have believed him. But surely that couldn't be the case, could it?

"Indeed." The Kazekage sounded almost reverent as he looked upon the mural. "Shukaku-sama in all its glory."

The Hokage turned to the other man in surprise. "I wasn't aware the people in Suna still worshipped The Nine?"

"They don't." The Kazekage gave the other man a deadpan look. "Publicly."

"I see." The Hokage couldn't help the slight dry chuckle at that. "Still, this mural seems recent."

"It does." The Kazekage stepped forward and put his right hand on the mural, right at the tip of the Ichibi's tail. "Yet it isn't. My youngest found this place eight years ago. He had a… calling, you could say. When he found it, it looked exactly as it does now. Together with my oldest son they've secretly been studying this place for years. Even I was none the wiser. Not until a few months ago at least. That's when they finally found one of the secrets behind these engravings and they could no longer lie about what they were doing down here."

With that parts of the mural began to glow as the Kazekage channelled some of his chakra into the seals that seemed to be all over the mural. The Hokage reached for a three-pronged kunai when a poof of smoke appeared from the wall in a sign of a standard unsealing. Yet instead of a weapon or anything hostile, the only thing that appeared was a big room with a strange altar in the middle. On top of it lay a cushion with something so mundane that the Hokage couldn't help but check whether it was a genjutsu.

"A big tea kettle?"

A snort of amusement came from the Kazekage as he walked into the room, casually lighting the torches around the room with his own torch. "Your wife is an Uzumaki, is she not?"

"She is," the Hokage said somewhat perplexed at the strange change of subject.

The Kazekage nodded as he finished lighting all the torches in the room. He placed the torch he was carrying on the ground and from the corner of his eyes the Hokage saw how a trickle of gold dust covered the flame and extinguished it. "Then you more than most should understand all this secrecy if I told you that this big tea kettle belonged to the Bunpuku clan."

The Hokage frowned and gave the kettle a sceptical look. Aside from its size, it didn't look like anything impressive. But if it was indeed an artefact of the famous Bunpuku clan, then he understood the caution. "Why would you show me something like this? If what you say is true, then this is beyond priceless. Not something you'd just show to the leader of a foreign village."

The other man stayed quiet as he carefully lifted the old and rusty tea kettle from its altar with the help of his gold dust. Nothing happened. The Hokage walked around the now floating kettle and studied the thing from all sides. For all the legends surrounding the Bunpuku name, the Hokage couldn't help but feel a sense of disappointment. It was ugly. It was full of rust. And when—after a nod of permission from the Kazekage—he touched and channelled some chakra inside the object not a single thing happened.

"And are you sure this is one of the Bunpuku clan's artefacts?" The scepticism and disappointment were clear to hear in the Hokage's voice. A thing that didn't escape the Kazekage's notice.

"There have been stories about a Bunpuku priest sealing the power of Shukaku-sama in a teapot ever since Sunagakure was founded," the Kazekage said as he watched the other man investigate the kettle. "I've always thought of them as nothing more than legends, even when my son found this room I was sceptical. But when I looked inside…"

With that, the gold dust turned the kettle on its side and lifted the lid. The Hokage's eyes widened. "Incredible." On the inside the kettle was full of seals. Every inch was covered in symbols and scribbles that would have no meaning to most people. The Hokage looked back towards the Kazekage, his amazement still clear on his face. "It's obvious they're seals meant to hold something inside. Do you know how to unseal it? Or maybe even a hint towards the key?"

The man shook his head. "I only have a limited knowledge of seals, and it was impossible to ask the more knowledgeable people in Suna. For obvious reasons. Only a single historian was allowed down here to establish its authenticity. An old and trusted friend. A rarity in Suna these days." He went to stand next to the Hokage who was now tracing the insides of the kettle with his fingers. "It's my sons who have been studying these seals ever since we discovered them. Which is the actual reason I asked you to come here."

That caught the Hokage's attention. Just because he had been humouring the other man with his mysterious and silent business up till now didn't mean he had forgotten that there was obviously something urgent the man had asked his presence for. After all, it was highly unusual for Kages to meet like this. Especially considering the recent history between their villages.

"Two weeks ago they had a breakthrough," the Kazekage said. His voice was calm and collected but the Hokage could sense something was off. "My youngest went to a temple up north near Ishigakure to ask the priests for extra information. He took one of my best jōnin and a few trusted chūnin with him. Last week that jōnin returned, mortally wounded and barely conscious. He died less than an hour later."

"Your son..?" the Hokage asked with a troubled frown.

"Dead. They killed all of them, even the priests."

"I'm sorry." He let out a heavy breath. "Do you have any idea who-"

"Iwa," the Kazekage said, jaw clenched. He reached into his robes, holding up his other hand to keep the Hokage at ease. He pulled out a stack of photos and handed them to the Hokage. "This is all that's left of the temple and the surrounding village."

His brow furrowed the Hokage took the stack of photographs and leafed through them. The pictures showed a scene of destruction on a scale he hadn't seen since the Third Shinobi World War. Bodies were strewn all over the place, most of them missing various body parts or sometimes just comprising a single body part. Not a single building was undamaged. Most of them were completely destroyed, and the streets were littered with craters. Some of them bigger than the houses that had stood there previously.

"There's only one group capable of defeating my shinobi and causing that level of destruction in such a short time span. A time span in which only one of my men could get away to relay a message."

The Hokage ran a hand through his blond hair as he let out a weary sigh. "Iwa's Explosion Corps." This was worse than anything he could have imagined when the Kazekage had his strange invitation delivered. "Can I keep these pictures?"

"Please do," the Kazekage said with a wave of his hand. "I've been in talks with the daimyo of the Land of Stone. He's been on good terms with Iwa and the Land of Earth, but even he can't let the killing of priests in his country go unpunished. I've also approached some of the minor villages, Taki and Kusa amongst them. They have also been getting anxious about Iwa's recent behaviour."

The Hokage looked up sharply at that. "Wait a minute. You're planning to start a world war over _this_?" He waved the photos in the air to illustrate his point. "Is that what this meeting is about?"

" _This_ ," the Kazekage said with a glare, his fists clenched in an uncharacteristic show of emotion, "is the murder of my son! The person who I was going to name as my successor."

"With all due respect, Kazekage-dono, but your son was a shinobi. An excellent one, I remember him from last year's Chūnin Exams, but he knew the risks. We all do." He sounded like a hypocrite even to his own ears. Gods knew what he would do if it was his son that got butchered by Iwa's Explosion Corps. But he couldn't let something like this spiral into another Shinobi World War. And he certainly wouldn't let his village get dragged into it. The previous one was still fresh in people's minds and it had cost them too much. If another war was why the Kazekage had invited him he'd be sorely disappointed.

The Kazekage scoffed. "Don't worry, Hokage-dono, I didn't invite you here to discuss war. Not yet, at least. I know Konoha is still too busy with their proxy-wars against Kumogakure."

The other man opened his mouth to protest the accusation, but the Kazekage was quick to cut him off.

"Don't even bother denying it. Everyone knows the real motives behind the ten-year civil war in the Land of Snow—or should it be the Land of Spring now? It's hard to keep up—even the recent rumblings in the Land of Frost have the smell of Kumo all over it." The Kazekage waved his hand in a dismissive gesture. "Honestly, they're not my problems and under normal circumstances I'd be delighted if you two kept each other busy for the foreseeable future. Yet with the ongoing civil war in Kiri and our own problems with our previous daimyo, we're left with an Iwagakure in an especially superior position of power. A position that has made them bold enough to openly attack my shinobi. And _that_ , Hokage-dono, _that_ is my problem."

The two men stared at each other in silence. The Hokage knew exactly what the other Kage was talking about, it had been a source of concern to him for quite some time. A powerful Iwa was something that would never be a positive thing for Konoha, especially considering how the last war ended.

They had been trying to rein in some of Iwa's power through various means, but most of them had ended in failure. Even his own sensei's spy network had failed to penetrate their defences. Which left them almost completely in the dark about the movements of their most dangerous potential adversary.

A sudden loud clang interrupted the Hokage's thoughts as the lid of the tea kettle fell back in place after the Kazekage had put the kettle back on its cushion. "I suspect," the man said as soon the noise had died down, "that my son's inquiries forced Iwa to show its interests and research into these same matters sooner than they might have wanted to."

"Research?" The Hokage raised an eyebrow as he looked back to the Kazekage. "What do you mean?"

"The jōnin who made it back to Suna after the attack on the temple mentioned the name Tokiwada Kanna." The Hokage didn't react to the name. "I see the name doesn't ring any bells with you either. We suspect it's not a real person but an alias or the name of a group or possibly a project."

"Could it be multiple names? Kato Kanna was one of the more infamous members of Iwa's Explosion Corps in the previous war-"

"And Tokiwada Kuroshi was infamous for his toxic mist release during the Second World War." The Kazekage nodded. "Both shinobi who were rumoured to have used the power of the Gods for their abilities. The Yonbi's and Gobi's respectively. We believe they're trying to use such powers once again."

The Hokage rubbed his temple in thought. "Those are just legends though, like how Kumo's Gold and Silver brothers supposedly got their power from the Kyuubi. Anti-Nine propaganda to make the Gods seem less divine."

"Legends like this tea kettle?" The Kazekage raised an eyebrow in challenge. "I don't believe in coincidence. There's a reason Iwa targeted one of the Holy Nine's temples just when my son was there for information about whatever is sealed inside this artefact. Whether or not the legends are true, Iwa seems to believe in them. That's all that matters. They're trying to create another weapon using the Gods' chakra as its source, and they don't want anyone to interfere with that. And as soon as they find out about this artefact…"

Slowly it became clear to the Hokage what this meeting was really about. The Kazekage was not just scared of whatever secret weapon Iwa might be building, it was the thought of Iwa setting its sights on Suna to make that weapon that scared him even more. Especially if Suna stood all alone against that threat.

Of the five Greater Elemental Nations, only the Land of Fire and the Land of Water still allowed the worship of the Nine Divine Beasts and their holy artefacts. Many of the smaller nations still had the same freedoms, yet Suna hadn't made itself too popular with them. And even if they could step over that, they probably wouldn't be of much use against an emboldened Iwagakure. Neither would Kiri while it was still fighting a civil war against its own shinobi. If Iwa really came for this holy artefact, who would be there to help Suna protect it?

"Our predecessors had one of the strongest alliances our world has ever seen. An alliance feared by all the other villages. If we want to put a stop to the Tsuchikage's mad quest for power we need to revive that alliance," the Kazekage said.

The Hokage gave the man a weak smile. "An alliance you broke in the first place. Yet now, when Konoha is once again your only option, you want to revisit it?"

The Kazekage didn't respond to that. He didn't have to, they both knew it was the truth. Yet they also knew neither of them would hold it against the other in times of need. They were well aware that in their world even the closest allies could become enemies the very next day, and the greatest foe could become a friend just as fast.

"What is it you want exactly, Kazekage-dono?" The Hokage asked. "You show me legendary artefacts, tell me about your suspicions that Iwa has a new weapons program, and you even offer me an alliance. Yet after over fifteen years of distrust between our villages you know I will need more than that. I will need proof. Both of your good intentions and of this weapons program you're so afraid of."

Despite the veil covering most of the Kazekage's face, the Hokage was sure the other man was smiling. "Of course, Hokage-dono." With a wave of his hand, two chairs of gold dust appeared in the room. "I asked you here not just to warn you about Iwa or to tell you about my recent change of heart regarding the Divine Nine. I do also have things to offer. Three things in fact. See it as a token of goodwill and a sign I'm genuine about this."

He sat down in one of the newly formed chairs as he watched the Hokage eye the other empty chair warily, not yet taking a seat.

"The first is a gift for your wife." The Kazekage motioned towards the tea kettle. "As an Uzumaki, I'm sure she'd appreciate a relic of the Bunpuku clan. And if she, or you, manages to unseal whatever is sealed inside the kettle, then it might just be a gift to Konoha as a whole, don't you think?"

The light from the flickering torches around the room wasn't bright enough for the Hokage to clearly make out the Kazekage's face, but he couldn't shake the feeling he was being mocked. The man had just laid out how afraid he was that the Bunpuku artefact might attract Iwa's forces, and now he wanted to gift that burden to Konoha? Sure, as far as holy artefacts went this one was very much priceless, but would he really want to risk his village's safety like that?

"Second, and perhaps not as spectacular as the first gift," the Kazekage continued with barely any pause, "a promise and an offer of a more spiritual matter." He reached into his robes and pulled out a scroll that he gave to the Hokage by way of his gold dust.

The Hokage unfurled the scroll with a frown on his face. A frown that got deeper and deeper the further he read on. "This is an impossible promise to make. Your council won't stand for this."

"Let me worry about that. I'll get it done, trust me."

"I don't."

A sound of amusement came from behind the Kazekage's veil. "With good reason. Which is what my last gift is all about. Well, it's more of an experiment really."

Another scroll appeared out of the gold dust, and again the Hokage read the contents with a frown on his face. This time, however, it didn't take long for the frown to give way to a look of surprise. The Hokage looked at the other man in disbelief, silently asking him if what he read was meant as a joke or not. When the other man didn't react the Hokage slowly walked towards the empty seat of gold dust and sat down.

For a full minute, neither of the men spoke and the only sound in the room was that of the crackling torches. The Hokage read both scrolls over again, weighing the implications of both offers in his mind. Meanwhile, the Kazekage remained quiet, silently watching the other man's contemplations. He seemed more than content in letting the moment drag on and giving the Hokage all the time he needed.

"This… experiment is beyond dangerous," the Hokage finally whispered, looking up from the scroll. The Kazekage gave a nod. "It will take a long time to get any results, and there's absolutely no guarantee there will be any results in the first place."

"Two to three years, according to my estimates," the Kazekage answered as he leaned back in his chair. "Which is why I came to you now. With Iwa on the move…"

He let the implication hang in the air. There was no need to vocalise both their fears. If the Kazekage's suspicions were true, then both men knew exactly what dangerous odds they were up against. And they knew the risks they'd have to take to prevent such an unfavourable outcome. Even if those risks came in the form of an unprecedented experiment like this. "And the minor villages have agreed to this?"

"They have." The Kazekage looked perfectly at ease. "On the condition that you join this venture as well."

The Hokage sighed and gave the scroll another once over. "Very well." He placed the scrolls to his side, leaned back in the chair and looked the man opposite him straight in the eyes. "Let's talk details."


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

* * *

A spectre of war was looming over the shinobi world. It had been that way for quite some time and it had not gone without notice. No matter where you went you could always feel the apprehension that hung in the air. You could smell the fear of what the future might bring every time someone opened a newspaper. And you could hear the anxiety in the hushed whispers that were on everyone's lips each and every day. The powder keg was fully loaded and it could ignite at any moment.

Yet despite all that, normal life went on. Just like it had done ever since the end of the Third Shinobi World War. While in the shadows shinobi were preparing for war, out in the sun everyone desperately acted like the current peace would last forever.

And the people in charge were all too happy to play along.

Which is why their left hands could sign trade deals and alliances. While their right hands signed off on increased border patrols and espionage missions. It was why in the streets the people greeted each other with a pleasant smile and a wave. While on the roofs, the ANBU watched with eyes full of distrust hidden behind their masks. And it was why the Kages emphasised the importance of friendship and cooperation at the Chūnin Exams. While the just-promoted jōnin got the exact opposite speech from them in their more private meetings.

It was a divide between those of high enough rank and experience on one side, and the civilians and younger—lower-ranked—shinobi on the other side.

For this second group had yet to learn the harsh realities of the shinobi world. For them, war, while feared, was also something they didn't really think about. They just lived their lives like they'd always done. They went to their jobs to take care of their families. They played at being ninja with other children in the park. And they had their fun with their coworkers in karaoke bars and their local red-light district.

The reasons were different for everyone. For some, it was a simple denial to accept reality. For others, it was nothing but straight up delusion. And for the new and enthusiastic genin who was currently eating a meal at his favourite ramen stand? Innocent naivety. His career as a shinobi was still young. He could still enjoy small and ordinary things like a dinner without worrying about the state of the world. No thoughts of war or strive were on his mind, and the only struggle he had was choosing which ramen dish he'd order next.

"Another one with beef this time, old man!" the blond youth shouted to the chef, his attention still focused on his current bowl of ramen.

The chef and owner of the ramen stand gave the blond child an annoyed glare. "Only if you take that old man comment back, kid. I'm still in the prime of my life." The girl next to the chef let out a melodious laugh at their antics as she finished charging another satisfied customer who was about to leave.

The youth joined her in laughter and gave the chef an apologetic grin. "Sorry, sorry." He hurriedly waved his arms in front of his face in a placating manner. "Nii-san it is!"

"That's better." The chef lost his glare and gave the boy a humorous smile. "One beef ramen coming right up!"

While the chef turned his back to the blond to work his magic in the small kitchen, the young shinobi went back to his current bowl of ramen. He was making a lot of noise as he slurped the remaining noodles inside. The customer next to him was eyeing the many empty bowls on the counter with a look of amazement as the boy turned to him with a wide grin. However, when the customer saw the boy looking at him he was quick to return his focus to his own meal.

They were the only two customers at the moment. The chef and his female assistant being the only other people in the restaurant. It wasn't all that surprising considering it was still before the usual busy hours of dinnertime. Yet it was still strange to see them man the stand without their usual help.

"You two on your own today, nee-chan?" the boy asked the slightly older girl after he had finished his meal.

She had her back towards the boy and was facing the kitchen area where the chef was hard at work. "Only for a while." She turned back around with a fresh bowl of ramen in her hand and placed it in front of the young ninja. Giggling she reached out with her other hand and ruffled it through the boy's blond hair. "Don't worry though, your crush should be back soon."

The genin's cheeks turned red as he swatted the hand of the girl away. "I don't have a crush!" he said with a scowl and a fierce blush on his face. "I only wanted to say goodbye before leaving on my first C-rank mission."

He glanced away from the girl, not wanting to meet her teasing and knowing gaze. Instead, he looked past her at the chef who was busy working in the kitchen. Or well, they might call it a kitchen, but it was actually still part of the same room. It was only the counter he was eating at that set it apart and separated him from said kitchen.

The restaurant was small like that. A single room with a kitchen area, a counter, and a few seats for the customers. A single door in the back led to a staircase to the upper floor where the owners lived after closing times. Or so the chef had told him once, he'd never actually seen what was behind that door. The one time he'd asked to see the chef had joked that he'd have to kill him afterwards. The boy had refused immediately and hadn't asked again. Joke or no, the chef could be really scary when he wanted to.

He minded none of that though. The owners were some of the nicest people he knew and they'd always made him feel welcomed and appreciated. The small size of the restaurant gave it an extra cosy and personal feel which he loved. Mostly because it made talking with the friendly owners way easier. All that together made this restaurant his favourite place in the village. And it had been ever since he first came here a little over a year ago. Of course, the delicious ramen that the chef made also helped make it such a great place to be.

Said chef turned his head around as though he felt the boy's eyes on his back. "Oh?" He raised his eyebrows as he looked the boy straight in the eyes. "So you finally got a real mission, eh? What is it? You going to save a princess?"

The blond was quiet for just a little longer than normal. "No..."

"Stop an evil tyrant then?"

"Not really..."

"Hmm, something even more important than that? Now I'm really curious." The chef gave a conspiratorial wink to his other customer but otherwise kept his complete focus on the boy.

Said young shinobi gave the man in front of him a glare to which the chef only gave a friendly smile in return. His female help, meanwhile, tried to contain her guffaws as much as possible. "We need to escort some drunk old man across the border," the genin grumbled. "That's it." The older girl burst out laughing at his misfortune and the boy was quick to turn his glare from the chef to the girl. "It's not funny!"

It seemed the girl didn't agree as she couldn't stop laughing. And even the chef let out a dry chuckle as he addressed the boy. "I warned you, kid." He wore an amused expression as he turned his back on the boy to prepare another order for the customer next to the young shinobi. "I've seen enough fresh genin come by this place to know C-ranks aren't the missions you hear about in songs and legends. I hope you weren't too rude to the Sandaime after he told you your mission?"

The blond boy was poking at his food now, suddenly he seemed a lot less hungry. "He wasn't even there. Only our Academy teacher was at the mission desk today."

The ramen chef only grunted at that but the boy's comments had piqued the girl's interest. She turned a pair of inquisitive eyes on the boy and leaned in closer. "Really?" she asked, her eyebrows disappearing beneath her white bandana. "That's unusual, isn't it?"

"Yeah..."

"Well, I'm sure something important came up. I doubt he'd want to miss the first C-Rank mission of his successor after all." The boy smiled at the girl's kind words but he still looked a bit down.

"Huh, he didn't even leave a message for you?" The chef looked back over his shoulder to the blond boy as he spoke up. "A reason why he wasn't there?"

Out of nowhere, the young shinobi's expression brightened. "He did!" The boy spoke with such a sudden cheer it almost appeared he had only now remembered that the Kage had indeed left exactly such a message for him. "He left a top-secret scroll for me behind!" The boy reached inside his pocket before showing a scroll to the ramen chef and his cute female assistant. "See!"

The chef finished filling a bowl of ramen and gave it to his coworker. She, in turn, put it in front of the other customer before turning her full attention towards the boy and his scroll. She looked impressed, a thing that only caused the boy's grin to widen. After all, it wasn't every day he could impress some of his most favourite people in the world with something like this.

The chef only scoffed. "That could be a scroll from anyone, kid."

"No, it couldn't!" The boy shook his head and gave the man before him an annoyed glare. "Look!" He turned the closed scroll around and pointed to a broken seal on the side. "Only the Sandaime can apply a seal like this!"

"Hmm..." The older man peered at the scroll and the seal from up close before backing away with a shrug. "Well, if you say so."

"I do say so." The boy gave a satisfied grin and was about to boast even more when the smell of the ramen in front of him made his stomach grumble. He had almost forgotten that he still had a delicious meal to finish! In a hurry, he lay the scroll to his side and picked up his chopsticks to continue his early dinner. Yet before he could even take a single bite, he saw a hand reach for the scroll out of the corner of his eyes. He looked up from his food with an alarmed look on his face, only to look right into the wide excited eyes of the waitress.

"Oooh, what's in it? What does it say? Anything juicy?"

The blond boy's eyes widened. He picked the scroll from the counter as fast as possible before the girl could reach and grab it. Then he stuffed it back deep in his pocket. "Can't tell you! Top secret!"

The girl pouted and did her best to put on a cute expression as she looked the boy in the eyes. "Awh, you can't even tell me?"

"Nope!"

"Tsk." She made a dismissive noise with a mock-hurt expression before giving the boy a sly look. "I'm sure you'd show it to your crush though."

He vehemently shook his head. "No, not even to her! It's top secret!"

A broad grin broke out on the face of the young girl. "Oooh, so you do admit that she's your crush?"

The boy sputtered in denial causing both the girl and the ramen chef to burst out laughing. The chef turned his full attention on him once again. He seemed to find the boy's flustered state beyond amusing and was wearing a broad grin. "That must be some secret worth keeping if you won't even tell it to a pretty girl."

The genin gave a firm nod before finally turning back to his bowl of ramen again. With his worries forgotten the only sounds still coming from him were those of slurping and the occasional sigh of contentment. The ramen chef ruffled the boy's hair as he made his way towards the front of the ramen stand. He watched with a smile as the youth enjoyed his food, no trace of any of his previous doubts or troubles to be found.

Once the boy finished his bowl, he got up and made for his purse to pay for the exorbitant meal. However, the chef was quick to hold up a hand to stop him.

"Don't worry about it, kid," he said, "it's on the house this time. Consider it as an early congratulation on completing your first C-Rank mission. So better not fail, otherwise I'll send that check to you after all."

The youth gave the man a wide smile. "Thanks, nii-san!" A determined look was on his face as he pumped a fist in the air. "I'll be back before you know it! You better believe it!"

The waitress giggled, making the boy's cheeks brighten a tiny fraction. "Good luck! We believe in you!"

The boy gave a happy nod of thanks before he turned around and ran out of the stand. His mind was full of thoughts about his upcoming mission and he was already imaging what kinds of sights he'd get to see outside the village walls. He'd need to buy souvenirs for the ramen stand owners. He was sure they'd like that. Would he even come to a good place where he'd be able to buy souvenirs though? Maybe not. The mission didn't specify the route they'd take, so it was hard to know...

He was so preoccupied in his own thoughts he didn't even see the figure right outside the ramen stand. With a sudden cry of surprise he bumped right into the generous bust of the incoming woman. The sudden collision sending him falling backwards and before he even knew what was happening he was lying on his back. As he looked up, he was staring at the shocked and worried expression of the bespectacled young woman he had just run into.

The woman was wearing the same outfit as the ramen chef and his waitress. A white robe covered by a black apron on which the name of the ramen stand was written in bright orange letters. On her head, she wore a white bandana. Contrary to the chef's and waitress' bandana though the woman's bandana only covered the front of her head and not all of it. Her scruffy ponytail made it impossible to cover the rest.

"Ah! I'm so sorry!" the woman said, a fierce blush on her face. "A-are you all right?"

The boy let out a groan of discomfort as he struggled to get up from the ground and rubbed a sore spot on his back. "Wow, nee-chan," he said to the woman in front of him, "you're surprisingly strong to get a shinobi on the ground like that."

The woman gave an awkward laugh while looking at the ground, avoiding the boy's eyes. "I didn't mean to," she whispered, her hands fidgeting with the hem of her apron. "I wanted to get out of the way, but you were coming in so fast and you didn't see me, and then I wanted to say something to warn you but you were so quick and I-"

Around them, people were looking at the spectacle with curious eyes. But as soon as they saw that no one had injured themselves and no fight was about to break out they quickly lost interest and went back to their own business. Something the boy was eternally grateful for. Because if her worried glances were anything to go by, it was clear that such attention only made the woman even more nervous and flustered.

"Don't worry, nee-chan." The blond boy let out a friendly laugh at the woman's clear distress. "It was my fault anyway. I didn't look where I was going. I was in too much of a hurry to get ready for my first C-Rank mission!"

The blushing woman's eyes lit up at that. "Really? A C-Rank mission? That's great, Koji-kun."

The boy, Koji, rubbed the back of his head with a sheepish grin. "Hehe, yeah! We need to escort a man to the border and make sure nothing happens to him. It's a really important mission!"

"But won't that be dangerous?" The soft-spoken woman was wide-eyed as she processed this new information causing the young genin to puff out his chest.

"Maybe," Koji said, "but it's nothing I won't be able to handle! I've been training a lot and my teammates are almost as strong as me so it shouldn't be a problem." He got an assenting nod in response, making him grin even more. "Anyway, I should get ready now or else I'll be late."

"All right." The woman sounded somewhat reluctant to let the boy go. "Be careful though, Koji-kun, and good luck."

"You know it, Temari-nee-chan!" Koji gave her another proud grin before running off.

The bespectacled woman watched him run off with a small smile. A smile that slowly fell as she looked around the street with sharp eyes. Her gaze lingered just a while longer on the surrounding roofs before she turned around and entered the ramen stand.

* * *

The young waitress had a big smile on her face as she looked at the new arrival. She'd watched the whole exchange between Koji and Temari with great amusement. She knew how much the woman hated doing these things. But to the waitress that only made it even funnier to see her acting all flustered and vulnerable.

"Welcome back!" The girl waved with a bright smile as she gave the woman a warm greeting.

"Good evening," the woman responded in a soft voice. She gave a polite bow to the sole remaining customer in the restaurant before making her way to the chef.

The chef looked at the woman with a somewhat annoyed frown. "You're late." He stopped her in her approach with a gruff command and a forceful nod towards the entrance. "Close the shop."

The woman, Temari, raised her eyebrows at the chef and gave a quick glance to the customer who was eating in silence. Then, without another word, she turned around and exited the stand again. When she came back, she was carrying the banner flag that previously stood outside the stand proudly displaying the name of the small restaurant.

While the woman was hard at work closing up shop, the younger girl rounded on the chef. She wore a frown on her face and had both of her hands in her side. "Boss! You shouldn't be so hard on her! It's mean!"

The stand owner ignored her completely, causing the girl to let out an annoyed huff. She hated when he did stuff like this. Acting like the stern man in charge and pointing out other people's flaws. The whole act didn't even fit him! If there was anyone with a lot of flaws that needed correcting it was him. Yet still he insisted on playing this strict boss act. He probably thought he was beyond hilarious, just like with most of his practical jokes.

"You're slipping," the chef said reproachfully. He didn't even look at either of the women as he addressed Temari. He was too busy scanning the contents of a scroll that the customer had just given him. An exchange that the girl had almost missed completely and which caused her to raise a curious eyebrow. "Everyone could have seen that stunt you pulled out there."

Temari didn't answer her boss. She placed the flag inside, careful not to damage it, and went back to the entrance of the restaurant. She gave a polite smile to the few passersby who greeted her and then reached upwards to bring down the roller shutters. Her robe crawled up as she reached upwards, exposing a little more of her long legs. The waitress watched from behind the counter as a young man on the other side of the street stopped what he was doing to watch the woman at work. The blush that spread over his face a clear sign of what he thought of the sight.

"Are you sure no one saw you throw poor Koji-kun to the ground like that? It looked pretty violent and painful." The waitress' voice was at the exact right volume where it reached no one on the streets but was perfectly clear for the people inside the establishment.

Her gaze lingered on the young man who wasn't even trying to hide how he was checking Temari out anymore. Sometimes she wished she would get glances like that now and then. But she knew that next to Temari's endless legs she didn't stand a single chance. It was unfair really. Temari had both the big breasts and the long legs while she had neither. Why couldn't the Gods have spread those things more equally?

"I'm sure," Temari said in her same soft voice once she finally got a good grip on the handle of the roller shutters. With a loud noise, she pulled them down in one quick movement, then she let them click into place at the bottom. "It was a reflex, it went too fast for anyone but Koji to notice. No ANBU were nearby and I doubt he himself will think too much of it. I wouldn't have let him walk away otherwise."

Out of nowhere, Temari sounded completely different. Gone was the gentle and timid woman who spoke with a soft voice. In its place was someone who spoke with a confident and firm tone of voice that demanded respect. The change was so drastic that the young waitress remained surprised each time she witnessed it. "Your acting is so scary, Temari!" She jumped over the counter and gave the blonde woman a tight hug. "You've really got it all. I'm so jealous!"

Temari turned an exasperated look towards the now broadly grinning chef. The girl was very much aware of that but it only made her tighten her hug more. Ok, so maybe Temari wasn't perfect. She still had an attitude that could use a lot of improvement and she really had to lighten up more often. But the younger girl had decided to help with that as much as possible. That annoying the woman like this was just straight up hilarious only played a small part in that decision.

When Temari finally succeeded in awkwardly prying the girl off of her, she walked to the counter and fell down in one of the chairs with a deep sigh. Two seats next to the customer who had yet to address her. It didn't seem like Temari was in any hurry to address him either as she completely ignored him as well. She let out a loud sigh and removed her bandana from her head. Then she released her blonde hair from its ponytail and finally she took off her glasses.

"So," she said, idly running her fingers through her blonde locks to straighten it out, "what's this all about?"

"Nono," the chef said with a wide grin, one the younger girl mirrored after she jumped back to the other side of the counter, "we want to know about the boyfriend first!"

Temari looked at the two identical grinning faces in front of her with an exasperated look. The younger girl could see the internal battle that was going on behind Temari's eyes. It was obvious that the older woman really didn't want to entertain them like this. But by now she must also have known that not doing so would only prolong her suffering. The girl's grin widened even further when the woman let out another tired sigh before finally deciding to humour them.

"He did my hair."

The girl looked almost starry-eyed at that revelation. "That's sooo cute, Temari!"

"Yeah, he sure is a romantic, huh?" the chef said with a laugh.

"Very." Temari rolled her eyes and finally gave up on trying to make something of her hair. She leaned back in her chair and turned her full attention to the two people in front of her. She had a more serious look on her face that changed the whole mood in the room in a flash. "I didn't learn much new stuff. I can't read most of his files and the ones I can read have nothing interesting. It seems they got the news about Konoha's mobilisation though. Which, according to him, makes his mysterious project even more important."

While Temari was talking the younger girl was casually removing her work outfit. As she removed her bandana her short mint green hair was finally let free. The girl was quick to run her fingers through it to get it into some acceptable shape and let out an annoyed huff when it didn't go fast enough. The chef gave her a sidelong glance but otherwise kept his full attention on Temari. "Still no idea what the project is then?"

She shook her head. "Whatever it is, it's not good. Even worse, they finally seem to make progress on it and he made it sound like it would upset the power-balance completely. It's supposed to be slow progress, but it's still not something we should underestimate."

The chef frowned at that and bit his bottom lip in worry. "You think it's the project your father was worried about?"

Temari gave a simple nod. "I do."

"How certain are you though?" The green-haired girl joined the conversation after she had removed most of her work outfit. Temari turned to her and raised an eyebrow as she saw the sleeveless white midriff shirt she was wearing underneath her outfit. It exposed her tanned and toned stomach for all to see and was hardly what one would call inconspicuous. "I mean, we can't act unless you're sure, right? We don't want to risk a war if it's a completely different project."

The chef waved her off. "We've investigated for over a year, we've got enough leads by now that point to this being the one."

"No, Fū is right," Temari said. "I'm almost certain it's the right project but I'm nowhere near certain enough to act on it yet."

"Well, we're going to anyway."

The ramen chef sounded strangely confident in his statement and he had an almost giddy glint in his eyes as he looked at the two women. Temari gave him a sceptical look but said nothing. The other girl, Fū, however, let out a sound of protest. A protest that got silenced immediately when the man pushed a hand in front of her mouth and shut her up as though it was nothing.

He wore a proud smile as he held up the scroll he had gotten from the customer with his other hand. With some flair, he tossed it over the counter to Temari. "See for yourself."

Temari gave the scroll a quick once-over and it didn't take her more than a second to see what this was about. "This is the Tsuchikage's seal," she whispered, her wide eyes turning back to the ramen chef. "How the hell did you get this?"

He puffed out his chest and opened his mouth to speak when Fū—both her hands having finally wrestled the man's hand away from her mouth—spoke up before him. "That's Koji's scroll!"

The chef tried to put his hand back over Fū's mouth before he got interrupted once more. This time, however, she used her elegant movements to jump out of the way. He wasn't going to get her with that same trick twice!

Temari looked at the chef with a suspicious frown on her face. Then she turned to Fū who was still doing her best to avoid the hand of her boss before looking back at said boss again. "You stole a scroll from Koji?"

"He did!"

"No, I didn't." An indignant cry from the girl next to him and a pair of narrowed eyes from the woman in front forced him to elaborate. "He did."

The chef gave a nod to the customer who had by now finished his meal and was watching the three ramen stand owners with an amused expression. The blonde woman sighed and waved her hand in the general direction of the guest. A burst of wind flew from her hand and the guest's eyes and mouth opened wide in shock. Before he could even say anything though he had already disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

"Scary," the chef muttered with a grimace while Fū clapped her hands in awe.

"Wow, well spotted! What would you have done if he was real though?"

Temari scoffed. "I can recognise Naruto's clones by smell alone by now, that's how often he uses them. And even if I couldn't that little bit of wind wouldn't have left much more than a scratch on a real person."

"That's pretty rude," the chef muttered while Fū nodded sagely at Temari's answer. She supposed that was true. Naruto did do pretty much everything with clones. Wait, now that she thought about it, she hadn't seen him use all that many other techniques beyond clones, his Rasengan, and his sealing stuff.

Fū turned to the chef with a contemplative frown on her face. "Hey Naruto, do you even know any other techniques aside from your Rasengan and these weak clones?"

"Hey!" The chef, Naruto, turned his accusing gaze from Temari to Fū. "My clones have feelings, you know?"

"I'm only asking!"

Temari rolled her eyes. Ignoring the other two people in the restaurant, she unfurled the scroll and began scanning its contents.

A comfortable silence settled over the three as Temari read the scroll. Fū gave Naruto a questioning look, asking him without words what this was all about. He only shot Fū a self-satisfied grin in return. Quite an attractive one at that, she had to admit. She therefore made sure to look the other way before he could see the slight blush colouring her cheeks. She didn't want him to grow even cockier.

Her gaze fell on the banner flag that now stood in the corner of their little ramen stand. Naruto himself had emblazoned it with big orange kana that spelt the name of their restaurant; Itaraki Ramen. They were a good colour to grab the attention of potential customers, or so Naruto had said. And to everyone's amazement, he had been right. Even though he did first want to name their stand—and thus their undercover name—after some small Ramen shop in Konoha.

Fū was glad that Temari had convinced him otherwise. Everyone in their right mind knew that using an existing name with links to Konoha was too big of a risk. And after some discussion even Naruto had agreed, so they'd settled on Itaraki Ramen instead. Despite that, the whole restaurant was still a close replica of the one he—and many other shinobi and civilians alike—visited quite often in Konoha. But considering that most ramen stands look alike they hardly thought that would be seen as suspicious.

Most of their undercover background story was Naruto's idea really. And up till now, the whole thing had worked like a charm. For what better way to study a village and its people than by serving their food and by having a friendly chat with them over a drink? It was something the intimacy of their little restaurant was the perfect cover for. After all, who would ever suspect the friendly civilian ramen chefs to be a danger to their village?

Fū couldn't suppress the slight sardonic smile as she remembered the many guests they had served who would tell them all about their private—and not so private—problems as they enjoyed their dinner. There was only room for six people at a time. All of them at the bar. So every one of them got a very personal touch from either Naruto, Temari, or herself. It made for easy observing, information gathering, and sometimes even seducing. And if worse came to worst it also made for easy pick-pocketing.

She looked back at Temari who seemed to have finished reading the result of their latest pick-pocketing tactic. She was currently staring at Naruto with eyes as wide as the ramen bowls in front of her. What was even in that scroll that could have gotten Temari that shocked?

"This is... Please tell me this is not another one of your stupid pranks?"

"Nope," Naruto replied with a smile, "it's the real deal. The one chance we've been waiting for. So I'm sure you understand why I said we have to act today."

Fū frowned. "What's gotta happen today? What's in that scroll?"

Neither Temari nor Naruto answered her. They only stared at each other in silence. Naruto with a broad and confident grin, and Temari with an uncertain and contemplative frown.

"Who knows when he'll be back," Naruto finally said. "Could be tomorrow for all we know. This is too big of an opportunity to ignore. Now's the time to finally do what we've been preparing for this past year."

His grin widened even further and Fū was getting annoyed that she still did not understand what they were talking about. Still, she couldn't help but smile along as Naruto turned to her with his grin still firmly in place and spoke the magic words they'd all been waiting to hear for more than a year now. Words she had no problem understanding at all.

"It's time to go home, Fū. Today will finally be the start of Iwa's destruction and the end of our mission."


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

* * *

History judges empires and nations by their accomplishments, not by their morals. That's a fact of life as old as time itself. All throughout history people remember the empires with the heroes who vanquished their enemies. With the brilliant minds who forever changed society. And with the artists who created endless beauty and riches. No one remembers the nations that chose peace over war. Morality over science. Or frugality over opulence. No, those are the nations that get conquered and forgotten in time. There is no place in history for them.

It was the very first lesson Hashiba Shiro's master taught him, and a lesson that would stay with him till he died. How could it not when evidence of its inherent truth was all around him nowadays? Just last week forces of the Land of Frost had invaded the Land of Hot Water. They met barely any opposition because the Land of Hot Water's hidden village, Yugakure, had almost completely given up on their military. They shifted their focus to their tourism sector years ago and the result was disastrous. The shinobi from the Land of Frost overwhelmed the few remaining Yugakure shinobi in a matter of hours. And their Daimyo fled to the neighbouring Land of Fire in a matter of minutes.

"So both Konoha and Kumo have mobilised and moved their forces to their borders now. How disconcerting." Hashiba Shiro channelled some chakra in the scroll when he finished reading and threw it in a bin next to his desk as it started burning. He watched the flames consume more and more of the scroll before all that remained was a small pile of ash. He let out a long sigh and leaned back in his chair with his eyes closed.

What a dreadful day. This was sure to move their schedule up considerably, and it wasn't like they weren't already busy to begin with. They had been working on this project non-stop for almost three years now. Ever since the Wind Daimyo got murdered at the Chūnin exams in Konoha. Murdered by Suna shinobi. The man's own hidden village.

Iwa's leadership was convinced that was going to be the catalyst for a new Shinobi World War, so they had started preparations immediately.

At the time he agreed with that assessment. Everyone knew about the strive between the Land of Wind Daimyo and Sunagakure—the Daimyo seemed more enamoured by Konoha than by his own village—but to outright murder him? That was unheard of. And to do it in Konoha no less. It was a brilliant move by Suna, that much he had to admit, but it was also a surefire way to start a war.

And yet it didn't. Despite the death of a Daimyo who was on great terms with Konoha no war happened. Not even the fact that said murder within Konoha's borders meant gigantic damage to Konoha's image as a competent village that was able to protect and secure people within its own borders had mattered.

Shiro had no idea how Suna had pulled that off. The threats and promises they must have made towards Konoha to make them stay their hand after that massive breach of trust must have been enormous.

He doubted the same would happen with this Land of Frost situation though. Especially because it wasn't just Konoha that the Land of Frost needed to calm down. There was also Kumo to deal with. And possibly even Kiri depending on who was really behind this.

Which meant Iwa had to be ready. So the upcoming weeks were most likely going to be long and busy.

The sound of a door opening behind him made him open his eyes. He swivelled his chair around and smiled at the sight that greeted him. His beautiful, freshly showered, girlfriend walked out of his bathroom as though it was her own. With one towel wrapped around her body and another towel around her head, she made for quite a sight. Especially her long shapely legs never failed to excite him.

"Y-you're staring, Shiro-kun." A small blush appeared on the demure woman's face when she saw her boyfriend looking at her legs. She glanced away from him but didn't try to hide the rest of her body from his gaze. "Have you seen my glasses?"

"I have indeed." He turned back around to his desk and grabbed the glasses that lay in the corner before holding them up to her with a smile.

A slight frown of confusion appeared on her face. "How did they get there?" she whispered more to herself than to her boyfriend. The sound of her bare feet on the wooden floor were the only sounds in the room as she made her way to him in small quick steps.

As she reached out for the glasses Shiro's other arm shot out and grabbed her palm. With a soft tug and a surprised shriek from the woman she suddenly felt herself pulled on his lap. A hand on her jaw turned her face upwards, making her look right in the eyes of the older man. He smiled as he saw the blush on his girlfriend's face as she kept staring into his eyes.

She had often told him how attractive and mesmerising she found them. He had always hated his own eyes. Hated how one was green and the other one blue. But the fact that this young woman loved them so much made his younger years of being bullied because of them more than worth it.

Shiro saw her open her mouth to say something and he was unable to hold himself back any longer. Before she could even form a single sentence, he covered her lips with his own, shutting her up in an instant.

It was sublime. His mouth on hers, his hand on her covered breast, and the sounds of her soft sighs and moans of appreciation in his ears. He didn't believe in those preposterous ideas of heaven or the afterlife but if it did exist, he'd imagine it would feel something like this.

He felt her shiver as he opened her towel and the cold air fell on her skin. Shiro moved his fingers upwards until they found their way to her rapidly hardening nipples, causing another moan to escape her lips.

Shiro let out a low chuckle as he pulled away from their kiss. "You grow more irresistible by the day, my love." He gave her flushed body a slow once-over, lingering just a while longer on the area of her breasts.

The blushing woman reached up with her right hand and stroked his cheek. "So do you, Shiro-kun." She smiled as her hand travelled higher and brushed through his dark but greying hair.

"No," he shook his head ruefully, "I just grow older instead. I've merely been beyond fortunate to have met you, even if I might get too old for you soon."

She gave him a gentle smile, and with her fingers still brushing through his hair, reached up and gave him a tender peck on the lips. "Thirty-eight isn't that old," she said as she slowly got up from his lap and stepped out of his reach, "and maybe I find older men irresistible. Which means it would still be true."

"You tease." Shiro laughed as the young woman closed her towel again and put her glasses on before making her way to their sometimes shared bedroom.

"I have to get ready for work!"

Shiro still heard her giggling from the bedroom. He was glad she had become increasingly more open towards him. She was still the same soft-spoken young woman as she'd been when they'd met months ago, but at least now she could talk about sexual things without stuttering. Sometimes she even managed to tease and flirt with him, something Shiro could only encourage. Not that he disliked her demure personality, on the contrary, he loved it. But the idea that she had finally become this comfortable around him was flattering.

He shook his head as he turned back to the opened files on his desk and gave them another once-over. Who would have thought a boring old guy like him could land such a cute girl like her? He really was beyond fortunate.

"Did you burn something?" the woman asked as she came out of the bedroom dressed in her working clothes. "I thought I smelled something earlier."

"An ANBU delivered a missive when I came home."

His girlfriend gave a sound of understanding. She knew he wouldn't elaborate on that. It was forbidden to say anything about the contents of said missives to a civilian like her, so she wouldn't press him for it either. Another thing he loved about her. She respected and understood his secrets.

He dropped his work and turned to look at her. She was standing in front of a mirror in the hallway trying and failing to get her long blonde hair to be less of a mess. "There might be a war soon," Shiro said out of nowhere.

The woman stopped what she was doing and turned to him in surprise. "W-what?"

He looked back at her with a serious expression. "Both Konoha and Kumo have mobilised their forces following the Land of Hot Water incident. Kiri is undoubtedly soon to follow. It is more than likely that they will drag even more countries into the conflict after that. I... too might have to go."

She looked at him with wide eyes, her hair forgotten completely "W-why?"

Her stutter was back. Of course it was after news like that. He gave her a sad smile. Sometimes he forgot the differences between civilians and shinobi. Where an 18-year-old shinobi would sometimes already have the experience and knowledge of a veteran—and certainly be someone who'd seen the world for what it truly was—an 18-year-old civilian like her was barely an adult. And was that any surprise?

All she knew was the comfort and safety of Iwagakure. She was too young to remember the previous war. And ever since that war Iwa increased its security so much that there hadn't been a single successful foreign attack on their village. She was probably taught some things in school, or by her family, possibly even seen some movies. But that isn't the same as experiencing those things. As truly knowing what horrors lay in wait beyond their borders.

"It's politics, my love." He stood up and made his way to her. "The village has to protect our interests and our alliances. We have to appear strong. And seeing as I'm a shinobi of this village I must also help with that."

"But you're in the science division!"

"Indeed, I am." He took the brush from her limp hands and brushed her beautiful blonde hair. "And if we finish our projects in time, I can contribute in that way. If not... I'll have to contribute the old-fashioned way."

The blonde woman stayed quiet and just watched in the mirror how her boyfriend brushed her hair. When he finished, he pulled her hair in a ponytail, let it hang over her right shoulder and leaned down to kiss the left side of her exposed neck.

"Don't worry," he whispered in her ear as he pulled her close against him, his arms around her waist. "Our project should give us an army that will be unstoppable. You've got nothing to fear."

The image in the mirror gave him an uncertain smile which he returned with a smile he hoped would be comforting. When he pulled back, she turned around and looked him straight in the eyes. "How unstoppable?"

"As unstoppable as an army has ever been. Trust me, my master is a brilliant woman. We're making progress. Slow progress, but we will succeed."

She held his gaze for a few seconds longer before she gave him a nod, seemingly satisfied with his answer.

It was at that point the clock in the hallway tolled four times. She glanced at the clock to see if she heard right and her eyes widened when she saw that it was already four in the afternoon. "I need to go. I'll be back around midnight, like usual."

Shiro smiled. "Very well. Good luck at work and do invite your boss and colleague for dinner sometime. We've been together so long that at this point it would be rude not to, don't you think?"

"Ok, I will." She stood on her toes and gave him a quick kiss on the lips. "Love you, Shiro-kun."

"I love you too," he said with a warm smile. He watched as she turned around and opened the door, the wind instantly blowing her blonde hair in her face. He chuckled before he noticed something missing. "Wait, Temari-chan!"

The woman turned around when he called her name, her eyebrows raised in an unasked question as she saw Shiro run back inside his house. Within seconds he returned, a white bandana in his right hand. "You forgot part of your outfit."

"Thanks, Shiro-kun!" She quickly accepted the headpiece and put it on without any trouble. Then she turned once more to him as if to ask him how it looked. He gave her a nod, and she gave him one of her warmest smiles in return before she stepped outside. "See you tonight!"

Shiro let out a sigh. Temari's smiles always made his day. It was a smile that, even at his age, still made his heart and the butterflies in his stomach go crazy. Perhaps this day wasn't so bad after all.

He chuckled. Yes, he was a very fortunate man indeed to have a smile like that to cheer him up every day. He walked back to his desk, ready to work. It was a smile worth protecting, and he decided that he would make sure that Iwa's forces would be strong enough to succeed in that task.

* * *

Even the best things in life should be enjoyed in moderation, or so the saying went.

While enjoying his sashimi Hashiba Shiro couldn't help but disagree with that sentiment. The shinobi life was way too dangerous to not enjoy every day to its fullest. And that included food, even if that meant adding a few pounds to his frame. So while with a pencil in his left hand he was diligently scribbling his latest calculations in his notebook, with the chopsticks in his right hand he reached once more for the plate of raw fish.

"A casualty rate of 78%," he mumbled, peering over the documents on his desk as he absentmindedly reached for the soy sauce, "not acceptable at all."

He reached slightly forward as he brought the chopsticks to his mouth, his eyes never leaving his work. He had been at it ever since his girlfriend left for work. Only pausing for a few minutes to answer the door when some genin on a D-rank mission delivered his dinner and when an ANBU patrol came to check up on him. Yet he still wasn't any closer to solving the problem in front of him. A problem that had been plaguing their division for over a week now.

He put his pencil down and reached for one of the other documents at the back of his desk. Slowly chewing on his food and savouring the taste of his expensive meal he squinted his eyes as he compared the document to the recent calculations in his notebook.

"Hmm..." He swallowed the food in his mouth and reached for another piece of raw fish. "Perhaps lobotomy?"

Shiro laid the document down next to his notebook and reached for a scroll on the shelf above his desk. While his chopsticks remained busy with his food, his left hand unfurled the scroll with practised ease.

Countless calculations, sketches and diagrams covered the scroll. Some of them going above even his head. At the bottom was the official seal of Tokiwada Kanna, the leader of their project. A mysterious woman, but one who most people in Iwa regarded as one of the most brilliant minds in all the Elemental Nations. And a woman who Shiro was fortunate enough to call his master.

His eyes scanning over the scroll Shiro was quick to find the thing he was looking for. He laid it down beside his notebook and the other document. A smile spread over his face. He put his chopsticks down on his plate and brought both hands to his hair, staring in wonderment at what was before him.

"Tokiwada-sama," he whispered with a chuckle, shaking his head in disbelief, "you're a genius."

He reached for an empty scroll and with a speed that surprised even him began writing. His master needed to know. The answer was in front of them all this time. Finally, they'd be able to finalise their project and nothing would be able to stop the might of Iwa ever again. He laughed. They'd be heroes. People worth remembering in history.

The sound of a key unlocking his door stopped him right before he completed his report. Was it already time for Temari to come home? He looked up at the clock and narrowed his eyes in suspicion. Only ten o'clock, way too early. He resealed the documents on his desk as fast as possible, making sure to start with his master's scroll.

"I'm home." The sweet voice of his girlfriend sounded as the door slowly opened.

Shiro stopped what he was doing and reached for the bo-staff next to his desk. He hadn't survived for thirty-eight years without being extra careful in cases of suspicious activity.

"Welcome home, sweetheart." He made his way to the hallway with slow calculated steps. His eyes trained on the door that was still half-closed. "You're early."

The door finally opened and Temari let out one of her gentle melodious laughs. "My boss let me go early," she said as she made her way inside. She was carrying a long and big package that was obviously too heavy for her judging by how she was struggling with it. "Could you help me with this, Shiro-kun?"

"Naturally." He put his staff against the wall and grabbed the big package from his girlfriend. He made sure to touch her hand and channelled a bit of chakra into it without her noticing. No changes. He relaxed with a slight quirking at the corners of his mouth. He was getting paranoid. Now even resorting to checking if his girlfriend was a henge or genjutsu. "What's in the package?"

Her sweet smile abruptly transformed into something more sinister. Something derisive. "An iron fan."

Out of nowhere Temari took a firm grasp of the package and pulled it towards her. Only to slam it back into his stomach with one incredibly hard shove.

Shiro's eyes bulged out as Temari's sudden attack sent him flying backwards. He felt his recent meal coming up and leaving his mouth as he threw up. His back hit one of the walls in his apartment, forcing his flight to a rough and instant stop.

Gasping for breath he watched wide-eyed as Temari walked into his apartment as though she owned the place. She wore a hard look on her face which was completely out of place on someone as sweet and soft-spoken as her.

"T-Temari-chan," he said between gasps of breath.

"Don't get up, Shiro." There was no trace of the usual warmth in Temari's voice. In its place was an emotion he couldn't quite place. Contempt?

Ignoring the warning Shiro instead channelled a burst of chakra to his feet and lunged forward, trying to reach the bo-staff he had put against the wall in the hallway.

Before he even got close giant chains appeared from behind Temari and shot towards him. They coiled themselves around his arms and legs, stopping him right in his tracks. While struggling against the bindings, he tried to call for reinforcements by flaring his chakra to alert any nearby ANBU. To his horror, however, nothing happened. He couldn't even access his chakra and he gradually felt his body get weaker and weaker the longer he hung in the air.

"She told you not to get up," an amused male voice said from behind Temari.

Shiro gritted his teeth as he saw a short hooded man appear in the door opening behind Temari. The chains that held him captive seemed to come from his body.

"What did you do to her?" he said with narrowed eyes as the chains carried him higher in the air and further into his own apartment. Temari and the unknown man followed him inside with casual ease.

The man didn't answer and only looked up at the captive Shiro as he closed the door behind him. A strange white oni-mask with a giant grin was visible underneath the hood. Shiro couldn't help the shiver that ran up his spine at the sight. The Chakra Chains should have been obvious enough, but the mask left him without any doubt.

"Uzumaki." Shiro's voice was full of derision. "I should have known it would be someone from your clan of rats."

The masked man leaned his head slightly to the side and released a somewhat awkward chuckle. "Really? Should you have? I mean, you invited me over for dinner so I guess you should have somewhat expected it. But still, I must say, if you did expect me then a warmer welcome would have been nice after every-"

"Naruto." The impatient voice of Temari interrupted the young man. As if only now remembering his girlfriend's strange behaviour Shiro's head snapped back in her direction at the sound of her voice. She was at his desk. Looking through his still half-opened scrolls and documents without a care in the world. She absentmindedly grabbed a piece of his sashimi and stuck it in her mouth. "Hurry up and ask him your questions. The ANBU patrol should be here in 15 minutes and we still need to pick up Fū before they notice her distraction."

Shiro heard the boy named Naruto grumble in response. Whether this was out of disappointment that he couldn't play around or out of annoyance that he got scolded Shiro didn't know. The scolding seemed to have the desired effect though as the boy tightened the chains and noticeably straightened up before addressing him once again.

"Hashiba-san," a suddenly more serious Naruto said, "what is Project Don'yoku."

Shiro answered with questions of his own. "Who are you working for, Uzumaki? Konoha?" A sudden epiphany seemed to come to him "Wait, is a Yamanaka controlling her? Or is this another one of your sickening seals?"

Naruto ignored the questions and went on with his own. "How does one bypass the security of the red mountain's upper entrance?"

"..."

"Where is Tokiwada Kanna?" No answer. " _Who_ is Tokiwada Kanna?"

"I'm not telling you anything, Uzumaki." Shiro spat a glob of saliva on the mask of the man in front of him in defiance.

Naruto groaned, not even bothering to wipe the spit from his mask. "He's being difficult, Temari." Naruto's whiny complaint dispelled the serious air in a flash. Shiro wondered if the man had some kind of split personality. It wouldn't surprise him, the Uzumaki didn't get famous thanks to their sanity after all. "Are you sure you don't want to do the whole torture stuff? I thought you liked that?"

Shiro gritted his teeth. You don't become a jōnin in Iwa without getting trained in withstanding most forms of torture, but even he felt queasy at the thought of an Uzumaki doing the honours. Who knew what kind of sick things that clan of degenerates had come up with over the years.

"Once again, Naruto, we don't have time." Temari walked back to Naruto's side, a scroll and Shiro's plate of sashimi in her hands. "You want some?" She asked, nodding towards the plate of fish. The boy didn't answer but only stared in her direction with his creepy mask still in place. "Right, the mask." She turned to Shiro with a sweet smile on her face, one he almost recognised as an expression he was used to seeing from her. "I'd offer you some as well, but I can't reach your mouth while you're hanging there, so it's not much use. Take comfort in the fact that I won't let it go to waste though."

Shiro opened his mouth to say something, but closed it just as fast again. What was he supposed to say here? What was even happening here? What had happened to his sweet Temari-chan to make her this cruel?

The young woman tossed the scroll she was carrying to the creepy boy. "This is the only useful scroll that wasn't sealed off yet. It talks about lobotomy and other human experiments. We can send the rest home so the experts can decrypt them."

Naruto caught the scroll out of the air and looked it over. "Lobotomy? What's that?"

"An old medical procedure that removes part of the brain to make a person more docile," Temari said as she chewed on more of Shiro's sashimi.

The mask made it impossible to see what the boy thought of that information but the sound of disgust told Shiro more than enough. He snorted. "Don't pretend such things are below you, Uzumaki. The Alliance of Nations destroyed Uzushiogakure for a reason. Your kind has no right to pretend you have the moral high ground in these matters."

The mask turned back to him again. "The Uzumaki never experimented on living-"

"Oh, please." Shiro let out a mocking sound as his struggles against the chains increased. He could feel his body getting weaker from the constant chakra drain and he wanted to get out. "You're controlling an innocent civilian's mind at this very moment and yet it is the medical procedure of lobotomy that disgusts you?"

Naruto let out another awkward laugh as he turned his gaze to the woman next to him. He scratched the back of his neck. "Yeah, about that..."

Temari sighed. "No one is controlling me, Shiro." She removed her glasses and her bandana, releasing her hair from its ponytail in the process. "I am Temari of the Sand, oldest child of the Kazekage, sent here on an infiltration mission to investigate the rumours that Iwa is building a weapon of mass destruction, and if true, put an end to said project." She grabbed the package she had hit Shiro with and opened it, showing him her big iron war fan. "This is my main weapon. I can do some jutsu on you to prove my point, or you can simply accept that the Temari you knew never actually existed."

Shiro's eyes widened just a fraction, but it was enough to betray his surprise. "What are you talking about? We've been acquainted for almost a yea-"

"It's been a long mission."

Shiro was quiet. He looked between the two enemy shinobi in front of him with an unreadable expression. Could he really have fallen for such a rudimentary honey trap? _Him_ , a renowned jōnin of Iwa?

He thought back to when he first met Temari almost a year ago. The then still seventeen-year-old girl was being harassed by a bunch of thugs in some back-alley. Shiro only stumbled upon them because he got home late from work after his master forced some extra tasks on him. He had taken a different route home to get takeout from one of the restaurants that were still open, which meant going through the more shadier parts of Iwa.

Coincidences upon coincidences. Was it really possible that they planned for all that? How could they have known he would even help Temari? He wouldn't have under normal circumstance. He only did so because she reminded him of...

"My daughter," he whispered in disbelief, "how could you have possibly known about her? Not even the Tsuchikage knows about her."

Temari let out a laugh. "Does it matter? Does anything matter at this point?" Shiro didn't answer. He only stared back at Temari with an intense look. He had to know. Were they the ones who had murdered her? Temari sighed. "All you need to know is that we've got a teammate who is especially talented in intercepting communications that people don't want intercepted."

Shiro frowned. A teammate? How many people did they even have inside Iwa? "To think Suna is capable of..." He shook his head and let out a self-deprecating chuckle. Temari was right. What did it matter at this point? He'd get nothing useful from them. Not like this at least. "I should have known. Someone like you falling for someone like me..."

"You should have." There was no remorse in Temari's voice. No pity for the man whose emotions she had toyed with for months. If anything, she seemed to relish in it. A particular glint in her eyes betraying her feelings of satisfaction at the current state of affairs even if her voice betrayed none.

He wasn't sure if it was just pride in her skills of deception or if there was something else there. Some form of sadistic pleasure or perhaps just sheer cruelty. He had never spotted any form of cruelty in her before. Never even thought her capable of it. But it really did seem like she was a completely different person than the sweet soft-spoken girl he'd gotten to know inside and out.

"To think they train you for these exact circumstances..." Shiro shook his head. He seemed to talk more to himself than anyone else. He groaned before turning to the woman in front of him. "They had forewarned me numerous times about matters of love and intimacy, you know. Yet in the end, it seems like the heart wants what it wants even if it seems too good to be true."

Temari smiled. "It wasn't only the heart that wanted things." For the first time, Shiro wondered if her smile had always been more cruel and derisive than sweet and gentle. How else could it be that her current smile didn't seem out of place at all?

He let out a joyless laugh. "No, I guess you're right."

For a few moments, all the people in the room were silent. It only lasted for a scant few seconds before it was Temari who broke the silence once again. "Answer the questions, Shiro. I'll promise you safety in Suna if you cooperate. You know Iwa won't let you live after this. Not after harbouring an enemy kunoichi for so long and feeding her confidential information."

Shiro gave Temari a long and hard look before slowly returning her smile with one of his own. "You've been with me for months, Temari-chan. Surely you know me better than that?" He shook his head. "No, I don't think I will cooperate. I won't let my life's work be in vain. Torture me all you want, you won't get anything from me before the ANBU do their hourly check up in..." He looked at the clock behind his two assailants. "Seven minutes."

"I thought you would say that." Temari shrugged her shoulders. "My teammates insisted I'd give you a chance though."

This time it was Shiro's turn to mock the other party. "Now, now, Temari-chan. You might be good at seducing, but you need to work on your bluffing. I know for a fact that Suna is in no state to risk a war against us, even without our new weapons. And this is an act of war, you know that. So unless you've got a special technique to get me talking in the next six minutes you will have to kill me and make sure it looks natural. In which case you can forget about getting your answers and stopping our project."

"Don't worry, Shiro," Temari said, "we'll get our answers."

Shiro scoffed. "Not in six minutes. Or do you want to take me somewhere else for a more prolonged interrogation? In that case, I'll have to warn you that when the ANBU discover I'm missing they _will_ presume the worst. Which means they will probably start a full-blown investigation using all their resources. Something they'll also do if my murder doesn't look natural. Surely, you can't think you'd be able to hide from that? They'll find some evidence of Suna's involvement in no-time. And that would mean war. A war I know Suna doesn't want."

Temari was quiet at that, and Shiro couldn't help the slightly triumphant smile from appearing on his face. Iwa's security was too well organised for them to get away with something like this. They might kill him and set Project Don'yoku back a few weeks, but they wouldn't stop it. They would never know its secrets.

"So what is it going to be, Temari-chan? Are you going to risk being discovered or are you going to kill me and let me take my secrets with me to the grave? It is a sacrifice I'm more than willing to make. A sacrifice I'm sure Iwa will remember fondly once people other than me finish Project Don'yoku. But is it worth risking a war for that? Or wouldn't it be better to just run away from all this? Try to hide the evidence that you were ever here? It's not too late. Espionage is not an act of war—we all do it—but murdering or abducting someone like me is."

Temari's silence held on for just a few more seconds before she broke her act as an amused chuckle escaped her throat. "Oh sorry, for a minute there I thought you'd figured it all out." Temari nodded in Naruto's direction, a sadistic grin on her face. "The problem is that only I am from Suna. This is Namikaze Naruto, the Hokage's son. I'm afraid you're dealing with a joined Suna/Konoha operation."

"Ehm, Temari?" Naruto's mask betrayed nothing but his voice made his somewhat nervous amusement more than clear. "S-class secrets and all that?"

Temari only chuckled. Her gaze never leaving the chained up Iwa scientist whose eyes were wide open in shock as he grasped the implications of Temari's words. Could she be telling the truth? If so, how did he not know Suna and Konoha managed to form an alliance at a stage where they cooperated in S-class missions? Did their intelligence division know? No, they couldn't have. Iwa would have mobilised at the mere suspicion of such a tight alliance.

He let out a haggard breath. With an alliance like that Suna didn't need to fear war. They probably hoped for one. This might well be their pre-emptive strike to disable their enemy's weapons before their big force would start their invasion. Was the Land of Frost situation just an excuse for Konoha to mobilise without making Iwa worry about the sudden increased troop movements? Could their forces already be lying in wait? Watching for a sign that their undercover shinobi had disabled Iwa's weaponry?

So many questions. And Shiro doubted that he would like any of the answers.

He looked at the two shinobi in front of him. The strange masked Uzumaki boy from Konoha who had been holding him floating in place this whole time, and his own girlfriend who turned out to be an undercover Suna kunoichi. They were enjoying themselves that much was certain. Or at least Temari was, with her cruel smiles and mocking comments. He couldn't see what the boy was thinking but his whole demeanour made it seem like he was having a splendid time.

He wondered whether this was all a game to them or if they were simply glad to rid themselves of their undercover personas. Maybe they were just insane. Pretending to be another person for this long would take its toll on anyone's sanity he supposed. It's not like people didn't call him insane for his experiments and his obsession with certain projects. Perhaps it was true that sanity was all in the eye of the beholder.

Either way, this wasn't good. If they didn't have to fear discovery, then they could take him anywhere and torture him for days on end. Even he would crack at some point. He had to get out. He wasn't planning on dying or being tortured just yet.

"Don't worry," Temari said. And if Shiro closed his eyes he could almost pretend that the words of comfort came from the same sweet girl he had always thought she was. As it was though, all he could see was her strange cruel and discomforting smile. It gave those same exact words a whole other meaning than the comfort he wished they would instil. "I already said we don't have time for torture." She looked towards her masked partner. "Is the seal ready?"

The boy lifted his shirt and looked down at his stomach. An intricate seal was glowing brightly on his belly. "Almost. Just a bit more."

"Good. Let me know when you're ready."

The Uzumaki nodded his head as he let his shirt fall down again.

"What kind of contemptible experiments have you been doing on yourself, Uzumaki?" Despite his efforts, Shiro couldn't suppress the slight tremor of discomfort and apprehension from sneaking into his voice. The Uzumaki were infamous for their dealings with Angels and Demons alike, and for some reason he didn't think that seal on his chest was there as a blessing from some Angels.

The boy looked back up at Shiro. "What?" Shiro felt like the boy was giving him a confused look behind his mask. "Unlike you, I don't do experiments on myself. This is just a normal seal, nothing experimental about it."

Shiro narrowed his eyes in suspicion. "What makes you think I do experiments on myself?"

"Your eyes kind of give it away, idiot. They're different colours."

Temari was the first to respond. "It's called heterochromia, you taikomochi."

"So?" Naruto said with an indignant huff as he turned to Temari. "What difference does the name of the results of his experiments make?"

Shiro looked at the boy as though he'd grown a second head. Was he really being constrained by such an idiot? He looked at Temari but saw her looking at the boy in the exact same way.

"Are you- No, never mind." Temari sighed and made a dismissive gesture. "Is the seal finished? We've got four minutes left."

"Yeah, yeah." The boy waved her off and to Shiro's surprise slowly started stripping. Getting rid of his shirt, pants and even his strange hood, until all that was left were his boxers and his strange white oni-mask. "It's done."

"Great, then finish it. We've wasted enough time with the nice interrogation method that you and Fū insisted on trying first."

The undressing apparently came as no surprise to Temari, and Shiro couldn't help but wonder how often she had seen the boy naked before. A strange pang of jealousy went through him even though he knew how ridiculous that was in the current situation.

"Don't worry, I'm sure we'll still finish before the patrol arrives," the Uzumaki said sounding somewhat annoyed. "No word from Fū yet though?"

"No." Temari took a few steps back to the furthest corner of the room. The plate with raw fish still in her hands. "She's probably just a bit late, you know how she is."

Naruto grumbled something that Shiro couldn't make out before he spoke up more clearly. "If we go through with this while something happened to her the whole plan will fail. You know that, right?"

"This was your plan, Naruto. Since when did you start doubting your own plans?" Temari took another bite of her now almost finished stolen meal as she leaned against the wall without a care in the world. "And have some more trust in Fu. She's a big girl, she can handle herself."

"She's fourteen."

"Exactly. Just one year younger than you are and the same age you were when we started this mission."

"Yeah, but she doesn't-"

"Just get on with it, Naruto!" She threw her now empty plate to the boy's head who was quick to duck below it. "Fū will be fine. Worry about us instead and finish this thing before the ANBU patrol arrives."

"Fine, fine."

A frown appeared on Shiro's face as he listened to the confident way the two were behaving. Were they underestimating him? Did they really believe they could extract the information they wanted in less than three minutes? Or did they think they had the skills to outrun an ANBU patrol while holding him captive? If that's what they were thinking of then they had another thing coming.

He opened his mouth to say exactly that when a sudden tightening of the chains around his limbs stopped him in his tracks. Slowly but surely the chains began pulling at his limbs. Pulling in four different directions. His eyes widened in sudden panic as he looked from the masked Uzumaki to the cross-armed Temari. Where they really going to kill him like this? Without getting any answers? Without even trying to make it look like a natural death?

More and more the chains pulled on his limbs, putting a strain on his body he knew it couldn't handle for much longer. It hurt. And the worst thing was that he knew it would hurt a whole lot more if the chains continued pulling like this. He didn't want to die. Not like this.

"Please," he whispered in sudden desperation, looking Temari in the eyes, "don't."

She only smiled back pleasantly and gave him a cheery wave. "Bye, bye."

Before he could say anything in return, a loud sickening pop followed by the sound of tearing flesh rang through the room. With one final sharp thug of the Chakra Chains, his limbs got pulled from his romp.

His eyes and mouth opened wide in a silent scream as unimaginable pain coursed through his body. Pain on a level of intensity he had never felt before. He wanted to scream as loud as he had ever screamed. Yet before he even had a chance to make a sound, the chains that had torn the arms and legs from his body released said limbs only to pierce themselves into his chest before he could fall to the ground.

It all happened in a single second, yet to Hashiba Shiro that final second could have been an eternity. An eternity of watching the woman he loved smile and wave at him as his limbs got torn from his body.

He decided he hated that smile. That insufferable smirk. His last thought before darkness claimed him and the pain finally ended was how he wished that someone would wipe that smile from her face forever. Let whoever accomplished that go down in history as a hero. He'd gladly give his spot up for that.


End file.
